Monthly Archives: November 2012

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Cross country and flooding are the themes of the weekend, particularly on Sunday when the two merged at Birchwood, Warrington. Dave Pinnington from Penny Lane Striders was out on course to capture the splashes and smiles as photographs will show. There will be lots of photographs for Dave to upload over the next few days so keep checking up.

Dave was also out at Sefton capturing the Helsby hardcore of Andy Smith and Jayne who actually did both races over the weekend. Steve Riley was also out on Saturday, all three taking part in the European XC trials. This is a great opportunity to challenge against the best the country has to offer and although muddy there were some extremely talented and fast runners about as results will show.

The senior ladies race of one small and two large laps (approx. 8.5 km course) also incorporated the U23’s, starting some 40 minutes before the mens race. With muddy and slippy conditions Jayne was the only Helsby contender in this race and finished a brilliant 67th making her 47th senior lady in a class field of 170. Looking at results I think she was in the top 5 of the Cheshire runners. With Jayne only running for less than 2 years hopefully she can take a lot of pride from that performance.

Steve and Andy were competing in a massive field of 480 runners and it was great to see the Helsby vest on display, interestingly it’s a Helsby Harriers vest in the results! This was 3 large laps approx. 9.8km. Top male finisher was sub 30 minutes so showed how fast they are running. Well done to Steve and Andy. Full results here: (just scroll to bottom of page for excel file)

Full results for Sundays XC organised by Spectrum Striders are available on Steve Saunders website www.stevesaunders.co.uk but please find Helsby runners times extrapolated below.

Jayne Joy as consistent as ever pulled off a victory even after a solid performance on Saturday. In fact all Helsby ladies did the team proud with three top ten finishes of Vanessa and Janet Robertson and all in the top half of the field with Lesley having a strong run for 21st.

We had a few less men this time but I thought great runs, especially Tom who is now controlling his races a lot better and Dave Feakes and Adrian finishing well. Colin Bishop was once again top performer in his age category and I’m sure a top ten beckons for him soon.

Sunday also saw the David Staff Memorial Fell Race which Paul Foster ran in. I’ve had no report in for this race yet but well done to Paul. Paul ran a lot with Helsby last year so good to see him back!

“I enjoyed the David staff fell race which had 180 runners,a great start and finish in the woods under the bandstand,which helped at the beginning with the little shower but it soon cleared up with blue sky. It was an excellent course with a few up’s and down’s but good running in between…With the vast field it’s a great race for all running abilities so I would recommend the race for the fell series next year, but not sure how it works if cross country is on the same day..”

And last but certainly not least Andy Robinson ran in the Famous Grouse Fell Race. Some results and details from the website are below with Andy coming in a fantastic 66th

Like this:

Some magnificent results this weekend and a mixed bag of events to boot. Saturday was all fell and long distance trail, Sunday was road and half marathon.

Saturday morning saw the popular Penmaenmawr fell race where both Jayne and Jimmy put on the green vest to display their hill legs against the best North Wales has to offer. A short review on the Eyryi website states “A cracking 192 runners finished the oldest fell race in Wales on a stunning day which was soaking underfoot”. Let’s be honest, it was once again another stunning performance by Jayne, 1st lady home and well clear of the next lady as well as being 1st in for Helsby. I’m sure Jim was as impressed as everyone else was on the day. Keep up the good work Jayne and well done Jimmy.

Mario and Joe were out in support, along with club mascot Sharon ‘Basher’ Basford from Tattenhall who was nominated driver for the day, many thanks also to them. Helsby position and places as below with some links to photos from Alistair and Pete Douglas.

Saturday was also the Brecons Ultra, which is a 2 lap and 45 mile contour round the Brecons taking in the legendary Gap (old Roman road). where neither Chris or Adair ran as well as last year with Chris not in top form still performing brilliantly well for a 14th overall. I take my hat off to him. It was a stunning day in the Brecons though, where mist and drizzle last year became blue sky and an autumnal glow this year, the one bonus for running a little slower than normal.

But 45 miles wasn’t even the longest run of the day, not with Andy Robinson around, who managed 50 miles in the Lakes. Some details from Andy for another magnificent achievement.

I ran from Silecroft (near Millom on the Cumbrian coast) to Shap on Saturday: just over 50 miles across the Lakes, with 11400 ft of climbing. Four of us did the whole run: Gary Thorpe, who organised it, Neil Ashcroft (Ambleside), who you know, & another Andy whose surname escapes me. I came in some time after the others – they’re quick lads! More details on the FRA website

Sunday saw the final road counter of our current year which was the Conway Half Marathon.

Both Geoff Shaw and Andy Smith have provided a race report which are included below.

Geoff Shaw writes “A 12 start and a queue of traffic 5 miles from start meant a rushed prep with race number added whilst standing in another queue in a pub loo. Then off to the start, of course another queue as the start funnel filled awaiting the organiser’s gun. Bang, off we all went on a nice and warm day, along a half closed road and then onto the estuary with its soft sand causing a bit of a slip and slide before emerging onto the prom and heading for Llandudno. Nice and flat so far but a left past the Grand Hotel and the climb started and the temperature dropped. Up and up the Orme for two miles until a welcome moment of a drink and a energy gel. I should have had the gloves as gel tubes and cold fingers don’t work together, so a fight with the teeth saved the day. Then down and down till the same prom came and the same slippery sand to follow. An unwelcome ramp took us to the final bridge with the finish in sight. Job done !!”

Andy Smith writes “Sunday saw the return of Helsby Runners to
Conwyfor the start of a race from the shadow of the ancient
castle.A few months ago Chris Bayham-Hughes was heading south
for an epic run over the Welsh mountains; yesterday 9 Helsby
runners set off in the other direction for the somewhat
shorter distance of 13.1miles in the Conwy Half Marathon.
A cool, clear autumnal day made for ideal running conditions
for the race which headed north along the shores of the
River Conwy estuary before passing through Llandudno
and the long slow drag up and round the Great Orme.
A steady two miles of more or less continuous uphill,
with the sea below us to the right and cliffs above us
to the left, we eventually reached the high point at the
aptly named "Rest and be Thankful" cafe. No rest for
the wicked though, as after a quick gulp of water from
the water station, it was a fast descent and long run
back into Conwy to finish on quayside.
Colin Thompson lead the Helsby contingent home in an
excellent time of 1:25:53 with Jane Ashbrook being the
first Helsby lady home in 1:38:01. Geoff Shaw scored a superb
first placed category win with the other Helsby runners
finishing as follows (chip times):

Great run everyone and a fantastic win for Geoff in his new age category and a storming run for Colin too taking the Helsby chequered flag.

Photos of Conwy below courtesy of Bill and Jackie

Remember it’s cross country this Saturday for those who want to go and support. Four people have put their names in the pot, Jayne Joy for the ladies in the European XC trials at 1.20pm and Phil Gillard, Andy Smith and Steve Riley for the men at 2.00pm, both races Sefton Park, Liverpool.

Sunday is the Northwest League race at Birchwood as per details sent in an earlier club email, organized by Spectrum Striders so details are on the website link below.

It was a fine morning for the 19 Helsby members who headed to Capenhurst for the 2nd race in the Border League. It was ideal running conditions, cool with little wind and no rain so good times were hopefully assured for the 5.4 mile course.

Utilising the same run as the Capenhurst 5k in August but doing two laps instead of one this was always going to feel like a fast race with no undulations like the previous race at Caernarvon. In some ways it was a pity it was not a 10k course as a few people would have had pb’s I’m sure

After a respectful minutes silence for Remembrance Sunday Colin Bishop in his first foray into the Border league gave a commanding performance to be first in for Helsby and Jane Ashbrook ran well for a superb top ten ladies finish. As mentioned 19 were out for Helsby in total with 13 men and 6 women from a huge field of over 350 in total, near enough 100 more than at Caernarvon so hopefully no-one is too disappointed with their placing’s and thanks to every runner out as hopefully this helps consolidate our league position for both teams.

It was great to watch the race unfold from the perspective of my bike, and I have to admit somewhat easier!! and it was fantastic to see the efforts put in by Helsby runners.

Also out on the course in support were Joe and Mario so many thanks to them.

Anyone who has read running magazines (or sat next to Mike Searle in the bar) will know about the vast number of studies done into how to best prepare for a race in the final few days before it. I think they are missing a trick. I think they have exhausted trying to find the best way to best way by trial and error, and should take a new approach – find the worst way to prepare, and then simply do the opposite in future. I accidentally trialled a ‘worst way’ approach this weekend.

Had took it easy during the week, and was going to have a nice restful Saturday taking my Scouts to the Distict 5-a-side cometition. Unfortunately one of the sides didn’t turn up, so rather than having gaps in the programme a scratch side of leaders was put together to play five 7-minute friendlies against Scouts. It doesn’t sound that bad even when I type it now, but playing against thirteen-year-olds who were still in nappies the last time I played was seriously lung-bursting. And I was in jeans for the first two matches before I found a pair of shorts in the car.

So when I woke on Sunday morning my ‘race-face’ was very much absent, and replaced by a ‘please-don’t-make-me-do-it-face’, but I’ll never go sub-90 for the half with that attitude, so I dragged myself off to Tatton Park. It is a good point here to apologise for not going to the Border League race – I don’t get to race much so wanted something more suitable for Half Marathon training, so 15k was perfect.

The Stroke Association Resolution 15k is probably more of a fun runners run than a serious race, but it’s advertised on Runners World and hence still gets a good few serious runners in it. After DJ Dave had given us all the motivation we needed to run as far away from him as possible (playing Bruce Springsteen ‘Born to Run’ when I got there), we set off round the paths of Tatton Park. After the rain recently and a final shower on Sunday morning, these were not in the best shape, and in many places resembled some of the squishier parts of our Summer Run, but it was a lovely course all-in-all, and definitely a good work out for the legs. We generally went around the outskirts of the park, so didn’t get in the way of walkers/day-trippers (and vice-versa).

Overall the organisation was excellent, but as it was a primarily a run for charity and not a race you had to deal with timing yourself. However, one of the Marshalls in the last couple of kilometres had been keeping count so I knew my position on the run in.

Results:

Football – W4 L1 – Lost our heads against Frodsham Scouts

Running – 1h 6m 50s – 13th out of about 250. More importantly only 17 seconds behind the magic 6m 51s mile pace, which is alright given the terrain.

My finishing time was 4hrs 51mins . Also just behind me was Karen Jones who is also a Helsby runner, placed also on the same time.

For a change the Snowdonia marathon had a dry sunny day but the wind was cold and made the run very chilly. I was happy to finish in a better time than last year.

The marathon itself is rated as one of the hardest to do in Europe [top five] and the hard work begins at 14miles [steady climb ]. It levels of and then at 20 miles, which is the worst part, and sees most runners walk the 2.5mile steep route to the top ,doesn’t help with the wind chill added, then down to the finish into the village.

Delamere Forest saw approx 3000 hardy souls compete in the HellRunner up North race last Saturday. Those Joining me at the start included several witches, a man wearing a suit (with bowler hat) and Mr Mankini! After a gentle and only slightly hilly/muddy 3 miles, we headed into the forest and that’s when the fun started. Everyone had been talking about the infamous Bog of Doom, but before that we encountered several muddy bogs (waist high), and muddy vertical type climbs all adding to the fun. About 8/9 miles in everyone had to wade through a 100 metre path of icy (….well it was really really cold ) water – all of us playing a sort of Russian roulette game – one step forward -water remained thigh deep, the next step you instantly dropped to your waist/neck and so on and so forth. Admittedly, a number of people seemed to struggle with this part of the course and this was the sting in the HellRunner run (tail). Just before the end, we reached The Bog of Doom (more mud, lots of support) and by then I and everyone else found themselves jumping in the mud even if we didn’t have to.

After approx 2.32 hrs, the race was complete and medal and goody bag presented.

Ok, I know the HellRunner brand/hype puts alot of runners off , together with higher than usual entry fee etc but I have to say that as along as you don’t take it too seriously, this event was well organised, with a fun and challenging course – I have never seen so many men hugging foul blankets at the end !
I’d certainly Recommend and add it to my race calendar – maybe just with a costume next time.

It was a busy weekend for Helsby with a variety of races over the weekend including road, fell and cross country.

Saturday saw Colin and Tom both with a great result in the Halewood 5k which was course PB’s for both and a 5k PB for Tom. Great stuff guys, especially as they were out supporting the team at the Northwest cross country the following day.

Please note this race is on the first Saturday of every month at 10am, free to enter so you just turn up and run, Costa vouchers for 1st male and female too (Jayne in with a shout there!). Further information below.

Sunday morning saw a cold start to the day, presumably with everyone looking for their de-icer or scraper for the first time. It was a gorgeous blue sky for the race with some crisp air for the lungs to filter and another fantastic turnout for Helsby with ten men and three ladies. This was the 2nd race in the Northwest XC League held at Beacon Park and organised by Skelmersdale.

Once again, the best in the green vest was Jayne Joy who ran a clever race on a trickier cross country than many of the courses to once again win a first position in the league maintaining her number 1 podium position at cross country for this year. The good form appears all throughout Helsby with another top ten finish for Vanessa and with Janet Robertson also in the top half of the field Helsby ladies are continuing to make the club proud. 54 Ladies ran with some guests also.

Some great men’s results this week too with Colin Bishop taking 1st in his age category with an improvement already on last week and it was also fantastic to see club legend Chris Baynham-Hughes back running too.

Helsby ladies, alongside Lymm and Warrington once again took the team prize and the mens team were a position better than last week which now puts the joint mens and ladies team in 3rd place

Luckily we have some fantastic photos of the Beacon Park cross country from Penny Lane runner Dave Pinnington, so have a look through and see how many Helsby runners you can spot smiling or trying to dodge the mud…

Jim O’Hara was out on the fells for the Clwydian Hills race. This is a 9 mile toughie and Jim managed a brilliant 13th. Pictures of the day can be found below but results have not yet appeared on the www.wfra.org.uk website.

The next club race is back to the roads, the 2nd Border League race and luckily with less travelling this time as it’s down the road at Capenhurst, 11.00am on Sunday. Let’s field a strong team for this one if we can

The next cross country Northwest League race 3 is on Sunday 25th November at Birchwood, again at 10am and organised by Spectrum. I’ll send details out nearer the time.

On Saturday 24th November it’s the 2nd Liverpool & District which forms part of the European cross country trials. Expect many runners and a good standard and you’ll need to be pre-entered for this one. Race organisor has sent some information out below so the club will sort out the payment for this with a cheque that covers runners on the day but we’ll need someone to sort out the list of entries. If you want to send me your full name and DOB I’ll keep an excel file to send to Robbie before Monday 19th November. I’m away that weekend and Monday so I’ll have to send the list off on Thursday November 15th so please let me know details by that date.

Sefton Park XC information from Race RO

Sefton Park Entry Information

Clubs should provide a list of athletes (first & surname) along with dates of birth in Excel format to me by email no later than Monday 19th November.

Female athletes should be clearly identified on the entry list. Female athletes may run with the men as in previous years however this again must be stated clearly on your entry list. Female athletes electing to do this will be allocated senior men race bib numbers. Female athletes who wish to run in the women race will be allocated senior women race bib numbers. These race bib numbers are not interchangeable; please don’t compete in the wrong event as you will not be recorded by the chipping system. If you don’t indicate which race athlete will be entered in women race.

You cannot add names on the day however as in previous years we will try if possible to accommodate names changes within your allocation of race numbers, if time and circumstances permit.

Entry fee is £2.00 per athlete this fee should be brought along on the day in a cheque payable to Liverpool & District Cross Country Union. Please collect your numbers from the caravan adjacent to the start no later than 13:00
Start times Senior Women 13:20, Senior Men 14:00

We only have senior men and women bib number allocation, no other age groups.
Any athletes who wish to be entered into the McCain UK Cross Challenge and be eligible for prize money / Cross Challenge points will need to pay the £8 entry fee direct to UKA.

Please keep an eye on Liverpool & District website for

Best wishes

Robbie Wood

(Don’t forget, Castle Park training continues Monday nights at 6.30pm at the top field, everyone is welcome and it is becoming a very good quality half hour session to introduce into your training)